2 categories · RankedCisco Identity Services Engine
Cisco Identity Services Engine is a network access control product from Cisco that is also categorized under microsegmentation · cisco.com ↗
Strongest at enterprise, contested with Portnox Cloud. Ranked 92 of 92 for small business buyers.
The standing depends on who is buying. Every model is asked the same questions for each company size.
Portnox Cloud is first at 41%.
Portnox Cloud is first at 46%. 1 of 14 models made it the first choice when asked directly.
Ranked first, contested: Portnox Cloud has 18%.
Why models recommend it
“the most searched / mindshare leader... It remains the enterprise standard and is the default for large enterprises already running Cisco infrastructure”Muse Glimmer 30B · Comparative question · first choice
“The market leader and industry standard for large enterprises. It offers the most granular control and features in the world.”Qwen 3.7 Flash · Comparative question · first choice
“Choose Cisco ISE if you are a Cisco shop needing the deepest policy control and TrustSec segmentation.”Kimi K2 · Comparative question · first choice
“For large enterprises with complex networks, Cisco ISE or Forescout remain strong choices.”MiniMax M2.5 · Comparative question · first choice
What gives them pause
“Avoid solutions like Cisco ISE unless you have dedicated security engineering resources to maintain policy rule sets.”Gemini 3.5 Flash · Direct question · warning
“Many AI models and experts recommend avoiding it unless you are already deeply invested in Cisco's ecosystem”Mistral Small · Negative question · warning
“Unpatched instances of ISE or ClearPass with known 2026 authentication / RCE CVEs”Muse Glimmer 30B · Negative question · warning
“Avoid High-Cost Options: Skip Cisco ISE, Aruba ClearPass, or Forescout”Grok 4.20 · Budget-constrained question · warning
Also on the shortlist
The products named in the same answers as Cisco Identity Services Engine, over the 173 answers that named it, and how often each was the first choice instead.
| Product | Named together | Picked instead | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 111 | 53 | Compare → | |
| 90 | 1 | Compare → | |
| 80 | 7 | Compare → | |
| 74 | 4 | Compare → | |
| 52 | 4 | Compare → | |
| 39 | 10 | Compare → | |
| 26 | 0 | View → | |
| 22 | 1 | Compare → | |
| 21 | 2 | View → | |
| 18 | 2 | View → |
What the models named instead of Cisco Identity Services Engine →
A side-by-side page exists where both products are among a category's top eight.
At a glance
Stated on Cisco Identity Services Engine's own site, not checked by Gane.
- Also from Cisco
- Cisco ACE, Cisco ACI, Cisco ACI / Tetration, Cisco AI Defense, Cisco ASA/Firepower, Cisco AnyConnect and 70 more
How this is measured
Fourteen AI models from 12 labs are asked the same buying questions six ways, for three company sizes. Standings refresh every edition.
Gane sells AI visibility software. No company can pay to change a result.
Read the method →Sources returned with these answers
Fourteen of the fourteen models returned a source list in this edition: five return the pages they cited and nine the search results they consulted. These counts come from 151 of the 173 answers that named Cisco Identity Services Engine and are not a share of its labels.
Domains cited
411 of the 485 domain citations in answers naming Cisco Identity Services Engine came from a third party's page. Thirty were to the publisher's own pages (the Gane Index), which the models cite like any other source; they are not counted as a third party.
Pages cited
Pages are listed as the models cited them.
By model
| Model | First choice | Alternative | Mention | Warning | Labels |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Claude Haiku 4.5 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 3 |
| GPT-5.4 mini | 2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 4 |
| Gemini 3.5 Flash | 1 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 6 |
| Perplexity Sonar | 1 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 3 |
| Grok 4.20 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 3 | 6 |
| Mistral Small | 1 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 4 |
| DeepSeek V4 Flash | 1 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 5 |
| Llama 4 Maverick | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 2 |
| Qwen 3.7 Flash | 1 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 4 |
| Kimi K2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 4 |
| GLM 4.7 FlashX | 0 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 5 |
| MiniMax M2.5 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 4 |
| GPT-6 Luna | 0 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 4 |
| Muse Glimmer 30B | 1 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 5 |